Yearning for the Impossible
by WhiteMoonxBlackSun
Summary: Tsuki is forced by her parents to accompany her sister Dawn on her pokemon journey. Unexpected events occur separating the two and now Tsuki must travel the region to track Dawn down in the hopes that she will be accepted. Will she succeed? Or will she realize that some things just cannot be done?
1. The small town of Twinleaf

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

Today was one of the few days where I felt both happy and sad at the same time: my birthday. Though one would usually think it to be a happy event, it is not so in my case. Today was one of the few days where my existence would fade into nothingness; I was invisible to all. The thought made me feel both relieved, yet also sent a stab of pain in my heart.

I was free from the scrutiny of others, but at the same time, I wished for someone I could talk to freely. The cause of all the pain and problems in my life could be summed up with a single word or name: Dawn, otherwise known as my twin sister. I would probably get slapped by either her or my parents if I said that out loud.

I would probably get punished for doing or saying almost anything, so I may as well be mute. People ignored me anyway; I ended up speaking a few words during an odd day. Otherwise I simply wrote on my notepad; I didn't even use it that often.

To my parents and everyone else in Twinleaf, Dawn was the perfect little angel, capable of no evil. She was beautiful, with glossy brown hair styled daily and always wore fashionable clothes. To me, it was all an act, everyone is two-faced.

In contrast to the pampering of my sister, I was something akin to gum on the bottoms of one's shoe. I had thought that today would have been the best birthday ever; however it seemed that even fate was against me.

I woke up at the time I usually did and spent a few minutes staring at the ceiling, blinking away the sleepiness in my eyes. I liked nights much more than mornings.

My thoughts were interrupted by loud knocking at the door, followed by an angry "Get up you lazy girl!"

I sighed and got out of bed.

_Right on cue as usual_.

I spared a glance at the clock, 6:30 am and grabbed my notepad and pen.

The list of chores was even longer than usual: shopping for this and that for the party guests and other preparations. My mother promptly pushed me out the door to begin shopping, Dawn was still fast asleep, and would not awake until later. I rushed to finish as quickly as possible, hopefully due to the party I would have some rare free time. Sadly, Dawn was awake when I returned; mother was fretting over her clothes and hair.

"I'm bored; I am going to go outside for a while." Dawn pouted; mother smiled sweetly and replied, "Oh that's fine sweety. Go have some fun."

She turned to face her, the smile replaced with a scowl. "Accompany her."

I nodded as meekly as I could and silently followed my sister out the door.

The moment we got outside, a moving van could be seen in front of the house next to ours.

_A new neighbor_, I thought wryly, _another poor victim to charm_.

Moments later a boy with blonde hair, a striped shirt, jeans and a scarf walked out the front door. Dawn put on her customary smile and greeted him.

"Good morning! Nice to meet you, my name is Dawn."

The boy stared for a moment, then replied, "Good morning as well! My name is Barry. Who's that behind you?"

He motioned a hand towards me. I brought out my notepad and wrote, **My name is Tsuki**. Right after, his attention was almost completely taken by Dawn.

_Typical_.

Dawn cutely explained what she was about to do and Barry asked to join us. Dawn agreed and I had no say in the matter anyway. The walk was a short one to the bank of Lake Verity, as always the view was breath-taking. I spent most of my free time in the forest nearby, with the pokemon. They are probably the only ones I would ever talk to I suppose. As we entered, I noticed a strange flash, intrigued I walked forward and found a briefcase. I did not get a chance to open it, as Dawn came over and snatched it from my hands.

"Oh look I found! I wonder what's inside?"

Barry walked over, but did not get to respond as suddenly a pair of starly appeared. Dawn shrank back and gave a small shriek, Barry paled and I just stood where I was. To me, humans were much more dangerous compared to pokemon, though they are capable of amazing things; they are rarely evil.

Figuring the briefcase might have something to help; I placed it on the ground and opened it. Inside was three pokeballs, upon seeing them, Barry exclaimed, "We can use the pokemon inside them to fight!"

_That is pretty obvious_.

Dawn and Barry each grabbed a ball and threw. A piplup and a turtwig appeared in a flash of light.

"Turtwig use tackle!" Barry called, the green turtle sprang forward, knocking the starly to the ground.

Dawn on the other hand, just stared blankly at the blue penguin in front of her. The other starly flew towards piplup and attacked, the penguin winced as it was pushed back. Fortunately, the two starlys seemed to have had enough and flew away, but one of them snatched Dawn's hat in its beak.

"Get back my hat! Or I will tell mom!" She looked at me and pointed in the general direction of the fleeing starly.

Keeping any sort of emotion from my face, I turned and trekked into the forest, leaving Dawn and Barry behind. Truth be told, I rather enjoyed the walk; I was alone, which meant I did not have to listen to anyone praise Dawn or my parents or deal with my family. About an hour later, I exited the forest, Dawn's hat in my hand. Looking up in the sky, the sun was high in the sky.

_About noon I believe_.

As I neared the house, the sounds of partying were heard. I avoided the front door and entered from the back instead. When I opened the door I was met up with angry looks from mother and father. I braced myself.

"What were you doing?! You were supposed to stay with her! Something horrible could have…" The lecture went on for about fifteen minutes, which was only interrupted by Dawn appearing and saying, "I told her to get my hat. It is almost time for cake."

The hat was taken, and the lecture was over.

"Go to your room, and stay there, silently." My parents hissed and promptly turned around with wide smiles and played their roles as hosts for the party. From the corner of my eye, I saw Barry and the inhabitants of the town, who were crowded around admiring piplup and turtwig.

I entered my room and promptly fell on the bed. The hands of the hour clock glided forward as the sun set while I was asleep. When I awoke, the house was much quieter. My stomach gave a rumble, looking at the clock; I realized it was dinner time. I descended the stairs and joined the rest of the family at the table. Dawn was retelling the events of this morning's event. She had just finished retelling the battle with the starly, with some minor changes.

"Oh, you were so brave! You are a natural born pokemon trainer."

I discreetly rolled my eyes; this happened almost on a daily basis, in some way.

Mother then realized something, "Where did you get the pokemon?"

"That reminds me, I need to go visit someone named professor Rowan in Sandgem town, the briefcase belonged to him." Dawn said, father was confused and said, "Briefcase?"

A light bulb seemed to light up above Dawn's head, "Oh, I was getting to that part." I listened rather intently as well; I was in the forest during the time period.

Minutes after I had left, another boy ran into the clearing. He was looking for a briefcase with some pokeballs; the one that I had found. He then noticed the released pokemon.

He seemed pretty calm about it all and said, "These guys seem pretty attached already, I will tell the professor about this. If it isn't too much trouble, could you two visit him in Sandgem town? It's not too far from here."

According to Dawn he was quite cute; he wore a ball cap, had chocolate brown hair, a light blue jacket and black pants.

_Wonder how he reacted to Dawn's cute act?_ I kept quiet, eating my food as if the story did not interest me in the slightest. Dawn continued on with the story.

He had then introduced himself as Nate, assistant and son of professor Rowan, who was rather well known in Sinnoh for his research on pokemon. Afterwards, not bothering to wait for me, the two of them returned home for the party.

"This is a good chance! You get to meet that famous professor and go on a little adventure." Mother said excitedly, father nodded his head as well.

I shoveled the last mouthful of food into my mouth and excused myself from the table; I was approaching my limit. I left the dining room and acted as if I was returning to my room, but instead I quietly snuck out the back yard and walked back towards Lake Verity. The view was even more beautiful at night, the rays of moonlight shone on the surface of the water. As I neared the lake, a strange fog seemed to roll in out of nowhere. I stopped walking and looked around, I then noticed a silhouette in front of me. It looked like a pokemon, but not one I had ever seen. It was rather small and had three tails.

The fog disappeared after a few moments, taking the silhouette with it. I shrugged off the event as a possible hallucination from tiredness. Finding my usual spot, I brought out my ocarina. It was one of the few gifts I had ever received; colored a gradient of browns and made of clay. I brought the instrument to my lips and began to play.

I always felt at peace whenever I played the ocarina, all my stress and problems seemed to melt away for the moment. I glanced at my watch, it was getting late. I walked back towards home, slipped back indoors and into my bed. Closing my eyes, I fell asleep as the moon shone in the sky above the small town of Twinleaf.


	2. The Beginning of a Journey

I awoke as usual and walked downstairs. Surprisingly, Dawn was also awake. I immediately felt wary of what was about to happen.

"Okay Dawn, I prepared some supplies. You go visit the professor in Sandgem town and thank him for the pokemon." Mother explained and father nodded his head in agreement.

Dawn was sent off with smiles and ways, while I was unceremoniously shoved out the door.

_It seems I must accompany her_.

I quickly caught up with her as she neared the fork in the road. To the left was LakeVerity, to the right, the road to Sandgem.

Dawn brought out piplup's pokeball, but no wild pokemon attacked. It was nearing noon when we arrived in town, having no need to visit the pokemon center, we headed to the house next to it. As I neared the door, it swung open and someone bumped into me and we both fell to the ground. It was Barry; he apologized and held a hand out to me, which I ignored as I returned to my feet.

"Thanks Professor!" He called over his shoulder as he ran off towards the next city. Dawn had ignored the entire event and entered without me. Her piplup was out of its pokeball while the professor was observing it.

"This piplup seems to be in perfect health." He remarked.

"I made sure to take care of it." Dawn gushed.

_It was already fine, you didn't have to do anything_, I thought wryly.

The professor noticed my presence and motioned for me to come forward, it seemed as though he had something important to say. Before he could begin however, my parents entered the house as well.

_Worrying about their 'little angel' as usual_. I rolled my eyes. They came forward as well.

"Since you have taken care of this pokemon for me, I would like to give it to you. I also have a favor to ask." Professor Rowan began to speak, but he was interrupted by Dawn who thanked him and gave him a hug. Mother and father watched the scene with tears in their eyes. I kept my attention focused on the professor.

"Ahem." He said continuing, "As you know, there are many pokemon in this region. Would you be able to help me collect data on them?"

"I would love to!" Dawn said with false sweetness. A pink pokedex was promptly handed over.

"Thank you so much professor." Mother said, "With Dawn helping, I am sure that your research will advance quickly."

"We'd better get going; we don't want to waste any more of your time." Father said as they headed for the door.

I began to follow as well, but the professor put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Wait, I would like to speak with you for a moment."

Not surprisingly, my family did not miss me, the door shut behind them and professor Rowan began to speak.

"You are going to travel with Dawn, correct?" I nodded my head and he continued. "I would like to give you a pokedex and a pokemon as well. I have an eye for these things and it seems you would do a better job than your sister."

A purple pokedex was shoved into my hands without much chance to refuse. However, I managed to relay the fact that I did not want a pokemon. The professor looked questionably at me, and I smiled sadly back.

_No pokemon will live their life being ignored_.

At that moment, my parents walked back in, finally realizing they were missing a person; they noticed earlier than usual.

"What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I was about to give your daughter a pokemon of her own…" Rowan began but he was cut of by my mother.

"She doesn't need or deserve one! She is a useless waste of space." With a huff, I was dragged out the door, but I managed to say one thing before I was gone.

"Thank you." I was reunited with the others nearby and got a scolding.

"Dawn, good luck on your journey, here we brought you supplies." My parents said fondly and shoved the package in my direction. With a tearful goodbye solely meant for Dawn, we headed out for Route 202. Not far along the road, we came across a guy waiting for us. I assumed he was this 'Nate' person Dawn had been talking about.

_Another admirer_, I thought despairingly.

"Hey Dawn! Who is this?" He greeted cheerfully.

"Oh, this is my sister, Tsuki. She does not talk to people." I nodded my head in greeting.

"Anyway" Nate continued, "Professor Rowan, my uncle has asked me to help you out with the basics of being a pokemon trainer."

"What about a coordinator?" Dawn asked.

"Sorry about that, I have no clue other than they take place in Hearthome city."

Nate than began an explication of the capturing process: weakening the wild pokemon, then throwing a pokeball at it. It seemed pretty simple, but Dawn needed a few minutes for it to sink in. As we traveled forward, Dawn caught her first two pokemon; a shinx and a starly. The blue-black lynx and the bird pokemon tailed behind her. About an hour later, we arrived at the entrance to Jublife city. Dawn returned her pokemon and headed for the pokemon center then a man came forward; blocking her way.

"Hey Looker, how is it going?" Nate asked.

The man shrugged his shoulders, "Same old same old. Being an undercover cop is tough."

_Should he have really said that?_ The two had a short conversation and the undercover cop walked away.

"Since you are a newbie trainer, why don't you visit the trainer's school? There are bound to be many things you can learn there." Dawn thanked Nate with customary sweetness. He waved and left us at the entrance of the city.

"Why didn't he stay?" Dawn pouted and walked into the school.

_I didn't expect to find a person like him anytime soon_.

I followed her in; the school was relatively empty, but there were quite a few notes on the blackboard. Dawn went to socialize with someone there while I read the note about status conditions. They straight forward and I filed the information away in my brain. Time seemed to have passed quickly; the sun was setting as we exited the building.

Dawn yawned and said, "Let's go find a room to sleep." I assumed that she meant solely her.

Dawn found a decent room to stay in; she rummaged through her supplies and brought out her makeup bag. She promptly fell asleep on the bed. I glanced around the room, there was only one bed.

_Well looks like I get the floor_. I found a suitable area and lay down to sleep. Undoubtedly, Dawn would spend at least another day in town before heading out. _I'd better prepare myself_.

The next day, I awoke and peered blearily around, trying to find a clock. It was about eight in the morning. I changed and prepared for the day, a while later Dawn woke up.

"Where is my breakfast?" She asked and I pointed at the small table in the hotel room. After eating we headed outside; there we were greeted by a man in a clown costume complete with makeup.

"Hello there! Would you like to participate in the Harlequin Hunt?"

Dawn stared blankly at the man and I stayed silent. "What is it?"

"It's a promotional event sponsored by the Poketech Company. Participants will walk around the city looking for three other harlequins. They will ask you a question; if you get it right you'll get a coupon. Bring the three coupons to the company and you will receive a brand new Poketech." The harlequin explained enthusiastically.

Dawn seemed interested in the prize but not the method.

_I am probably going to have to do all the work_.

The search for the harlequins began. The first was in front of the pokemon center.

"Does shinx need an item in order to evolve?" Dawn had absolutely no idea, though she had her pokedex with her. Mine was safely tucked in my bag; it would be horrible if she found it. I flipped open the notebook, wrote the answer and showed it to Dawn.

"No."

"Correct! Here is a coupon. Only two more to go!" Dawn waved to the man and not too far was the second clown. He was standing in front of the pokemart.

"Can you find zubat in caves?" Once again, I had to write the answer down which Dawn relayed to the harlequin.

"Yes."

He handed the second coupon and wished us luck on the trip. Before continuing, I entered the mart to buy some basic supplies; Dawn would have been more interested in buying clothes. The final harlequin was standing near the TV station.

"An everstone stops pokemon from evolving. Correct?" I was positive that Dawn did not even know what the man was talking about. I sighed and flashed the notebook.

"Yes." Dawn relayed to the clown.

"Here is the final coupon. Head over to the Poketech company to redeem your prize." The task complete, Dawn rushed into the company, I followed suit. The owner introduced himself, explaining the history of his company and his vision of the future. Dawn looked as if she was going to fall asleep. When she finished she gave the three coupons over.

"I would like to receive a poketech please." The owner nodded his head and handed Dawn a watch.

"This has many applications available. Only a few are installed at the moment. Have fun getting the rest."

Dawn looked annoyed at that; she honestly disliked working, but when the owner looked at her she flashed a smile and thanked him. She turned and left the building, as I turned to follow her, the owner stopped me. "Wait here; I have one for you as well."

Confused, I wrote: **I thought I needed three coupons**.

"I know." He replied, "The harlequins messaged me, it seems that you were the one to answer the questions correctly. I feel you deserve a reward as well."

"Maybe I should not have given one to that other girl." He added as an afterthought. I shook my head at the statement and smiled in thanks for the gift. The colors of the poketechs matched the pokedexes we were both given. I left the building quickly in order to catch up with Dawn.

The rest of the day was spent touring the city; entering stores and talking with people. As usual, she charmed most of the inhabitants with her smile and demeanor. I could feel the annoyance grow in myself.

_Thank goodness we are leaving tomorrow; towards Orebourgh city_.


	3. Orebourgh City

Bright and early the next day, or at least as early as Dawn could wake up, we left Jublife city and headed east. The path was straight forward and Dawn's pokemon got some experience fighting the trainers. At least this time, Dawn seemed to have some idea of what to do.

I stood on the sidelines and watched, making mental notes about strategies and techniques. Why I did so, I have no idea; mother and father would never allow me to own a pokemon. The last leg of the journey was a short walk through a part of , a huge mountain that separated the Sinnoh region into two parts.

It was light enough inside the cave to see without use of flash, but visibility was still poor. Halfway through, we came across a man; he was blocking our way. His spiky blue hair and perpetual frown created an aura of intimidation. Dawn pushed me ahead of her. I tapped the man's shoulder as I scribbled hastily on a page in the notebook.

**Excuse me, could you please move out of the way?**

Dawn smiled as politely as she could manage about a meter away. He did not seem to notice and was mumbling to himself. I did not catch anything he said and I tapped his shoulder again. This time he turned, I pointed at the message.

"Sorry about that." His phone rang and he answered. "…Yeah. I'll be there right away."

He finished the call and moved closer to the wall, creating a space for us to walk through. Dawn smiled and I nodded my head in thanks and we continued on our way.

"I found some candidates for the experiment. They should head over to this location later. Make sure to pick them up."

Orebourgh was a rather small city dedicated to mining. Dawn's eyes widened at the scene devoid of stores of any sort.

_She looks like she wants to leave immediately_.

She almost sprinted to the gym, only to find out that Roark, the gymleader was currently in the mines.

We headed inside. Along the way some of the miners had pokemon battles and Dawn complained about how the dust was going to take hours to wash out.

Roark was found in the deepest part of the mine, when Dawn asked about a battle he looked at his watch.

"Oh, I must have lost track of time. Sorry about that. The gym will be ready shortly."

He rushed out of the mine. We followed suit; after resting at the pokemon center, Dawn was ready to take on the gym battle. The field was rocky, reflecting the leader's specialty.

Roark greeted us at the entrance along with a referee. They took their places and the referee explained the rules to the challenger.

"This will be a one-on-one battle between Roark, the gym leader of Orebourgh and the challenger Dawn from Twinleaf town. Let the battle begin!"

Two pokeballs were thrown simultaneously and the pokemon appeared. Dawn had chosen her piplup, due to type advantage. The other pokemon was a cranidos; a medium sized, bi-pedal dinosaur with a very hard head.

"Piplup use Bubble!" The blue penguin sent a stream of bubbles at the cranidos, who dodged the assault.

"Craniados use Headbutt!" The dinosaur rushed forward and smashed into piplup, sending the pokemon flying into the air. Piplup landed harshly on the ground, but stood up with determination in its eyes.

"Piplup use Bubblebeam!" This time a thicker, faster stream of bubbles flew towards cranidos and they hit. The attack was especially effective and now both pokemon looked rather exhausted.

"Cranidos use Tackle!" As the pokemon charged forward, Dawn told piplup to block the attack. Piplup slid back a foot or two but the attack was stopped. Suddenly piplup began to glow.

"What's going on?"

As the light faded away, piplup had changed form. It was larger but retained a resemblance to a penguin. Dawn took out her pokedex and it said, "Prinplup the penguin pokemon. Because every prinplup thinks they are most important, they can never form groups."

The sudden evolution did not turn the tides at the moment however, both pokemon were exhausted. One final attack would decide the victor.

Roark ordered his pokemon to use headbutt again.

_Instead of using a water attack, prinplup should probably use metal claw. He could block and damage; he would probably win_.

I stared intently at the battle, willing somehow that either Dawn or prinplup would come to the same conclusion I had.

"Prinplup, use Bubble!" Prinplup did not follow the command, instead it stood it ground, flippers crossed against its chest. The two collided, after a moment of silence, cranidos fell, revealing the fact that prinplup's flippers were glowing.

_Prinplup learned Metal Claw_.

"Cranidos is unable to battle. Dawn and prinplup are the winners!" Dawn did a victory pose to display her victory. I arose in preparation to leave.

"Here is the Coal Badge and a case to hold it. Good luck gathering the rest."

Dawn took the objects and placed them in her bag.

"Thank you very much." She turned to leave; I waved farewell and followed her.

As we were leaving, we ran into Barry. He had transformed into a full fledged Twinleaf citizen: his full attention focused on Dawn.

After a quick conversation, they parted ways and continued on towards the next gym battle: Eterna city. Little did I know however, that we would not reach the destination, fate had other plans in store.


	4. Abduction

_We are finally in Florama town_.

I glanced around, taking in the wonderful view of the flowers for which the town was rightfully named. Dawn walked over to the pokemon center; she had fought some battles and piplup was exhausted from a battle against a cherubi. Dawn had won in the end, just barely; similar to her first gym battle. I had to admit, she was improving. Her pokemon were becoming pretty strong as well.

There was not much to do in town, so after about an hour, we set out for Eterna forest. However, when we tried to head across the bridge, we were stopped by a pair of men dressed in uniforms.

"Entry not permitted past this point."

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked and the pair of men glared at us.

"Just stay away!" Dawn backed off and I followed.

As we walked away, we bumped into a worried little girl.

"Excuse me? Are you pokemon trainers?" When Dawn replied an affirmative, her face lit up.

"Then can you help me rescue my dad? Some mean looking people took him into the Valley Wind works."

"Sorry about that. We are busy at the moment." Dawn replied as I brought out my notepad.

**The two blocking the bridge are probably connected to the kidnappers at Valley Wind works**.

Dawn's attitude changed and after assuring the girl of her father's safety, we headed to the east.

The building had a guard, when Dawn approached; he ran inside and locked the door.

"Haha! Now you will never get in! The only other key is with my partner back in Florama town!"

"Tsuki, go get that key. I am waiting here." Dawn said as she sat down in the shade.

_At least that guy told me where to go_.

I walked back to town. Wandering for a few minutes, I realized the guy was not in town. I then found an entrance to another area nearby. There I found a pair of grunts harassing a man.

"Just hand over the honey!" One said to the man.

The man shook his head and the grunts became angry. Before the grunts brought out their pokeballs, I appeared behind them and tapped their shoulders. As they turned, I grabbed the pokeballs and punched one of the grunts in the stomach. The other grunt was grounded with a kick. The pokeballs were returned to their owners while the man and I left the scene. I also grabbed a key from the grunt's pocket.

"Thanks a lot." The man said and I wrote a message on my notepad.

He gave me a jar of special honey that would attract pokemon if slathered on trees. We parted ways and I returned to the windworks. Dawn was waiting and she looked bored. I handed over the key; more like it was snatched away.

Dawn took a look and then said, "You go in and rescue that guy. I am waiting here."

I stared at her and she stared back. "You know what will happen if you don't."

I sighed and approached the door, inserting the key. The door swung open silently and thankfully the grunt that had originally locked the door had left.

I snuck in, hid behind some boxes and looked around. No one was in the near vicinity, so I crept forward. Around the corner, a female grunt was standing watch.

_As long as she is there, I will never get past._

I glanced around and found a solid object. Staying out of sight, I threw the object at the far side of the hall. It attracted the grunt's attention, as she ran past me; I ran silently forward and ducked behind a wall. I was almost there, only one more room to go.

Fortunately, the room was relatively dark and there was a lot of cover. I managed to inch my way across the room without being discovered. In the final room, there was quite a few machines along the walls and it was dark was well. The room seemed silent, so I cautiously walked forward, looking for the kidnapped man.

Suddenly the lights flashed on, blinding me for a moment. When the spots disappeared from my sight, I was facing someone. She was wearing a uniform like the grunts, but it looked different somehow and she had short red hair.

I glanced around the room, but the kidnapped man was nowhere to be found.

"You must be Tsuki." I tensed, wondering how she knew my name.

"Boss ordered me to get you. You should probably come quietly." She released a pokemon as she explained. A blue and white fat cat appeared.

"Purugly use Fury Swipes!" The cat sprang forward, claws extended.

I managed to dodge most of the attacks by a hairs breadth. At the same time, I was slowly backing away towards the exit. Thankfully the girl did not seem to notice my plan and continued attacking. I was far enough that I could make a break for the exit, but just as I was about to turn, pain flashed throughout my body.

_It is a discharge attack_.

I crumpled to the ground; as my vision faded; I saw a familiar pair of shoes and the lower half of a shinx.

Some time later, I opened my eyes and was blinded by the brightness. I tried to use my hand to block the light but found all my limbs strapped against the surface I was laying against. I glanced around, trying to get my bearings; the girl I had met near Florama was standing nearby along with a couple of people in lab coats.

I managed to force out a few questions, "Where is this? Where is Dawn?"

The girl turned to face me and replied, "You have no need to know for the first. The second? Well let's just say she was very helpful."

I stared confusedly at the girl, but it seemed she would offer no answers. I glanced upward and realized there were glass windows forming a perimeter around the room; a sort of observation area. I also found another face I recognized; the man that was blocking the way in . He disappeared from view for a moment, but reappeared in the same room as me.

I asked once again, "Where is Dawn?"

The man laughed and replied, "Her? She is fine. We actually need to thank her for providing a person for the experiment."

At that moment, Dawn stepped out from behind the man.

"Aren't you lucky Tsuki. You get to help me get what I want."

I tried to keep any emotion from my face though at the moment I felt hurt and betrayed.

"Let us begin the experiment." The man said as he and Dawn left the room.

"Yes Cyrus sir." The girl said and motioned to the scientists to begin.

One approached, holding a syringe, filled with strange lavender colored liquid. The prick of the needle barely felt like anything compared to the discharge that knocked me out, but a few seconds after the last drop of liquid was injected, the real pain began.

My insides felt like they were melting, reshaping themselves somehow. All the veins in my body felt like they were on fire, the heat only increasing with each passing second. I felt myself begin to scream, only stopping as I once again blacked out; spiraling into the darkness.


	5. Experimentation and Escape

I awoke in a different room, sprawled along the ground. I sat myself up and looked around; the room was bare except for a bed and washroom. As I rose, a jangle was heard; I looked down to find my leg chained to the leg of the bed. It was long enough to reach the washroom, but not the door. I moved to the bed to clear my head.

I had a headache, but was otherwise fine, whatever they had injected into me did not seem to affect my outer appearance, and I felt fine.

I did not get much time to ponder as Cyrus entered the room. I jumped to my feet and watched him warily. He seemed pleased to see that I was awake.

"We can now begin the tests." A group of grunts came in as well and I was forced into another room. The rest of the day was spent conducting various tests; obviously nothing was explained to me.

I was asked to press corresponding buttons to flashing lights, guess cards and measuring brain activity. They did not seem very pleased with the results; I did not care either way. At the end I was ushered back to my room and left until the next day.

After those weird tests, there were more straightforward physical ones: running, lifting weights and others. I did not feel any change in my condition, so I just completed the tasks as usual. Once again they were not very pleased. Those first few days were not bad, so I had the opportunity to look for a way to escape, but the base seemed escape-proof.

The tests continued, but they became harsher, more demanding. I would get beaten frequently for failing or not meeting expectations. Slowly, but surely I was getting weaker.

_If I do not find a way to escape, I will probably die_.

After about two weeks of unsuccessful tests, everyone was reaching their limit. As a last ditch attempt, they brought in Dawn to do the experiments, though I had no idea what that would accomplish. The tests that day were especially excruciating, as the last test was completed, I collapsed to the ground.

As my vision blurred, I had a fierce desire to leave the horrid place I had been kept. I heard faint exclamations of surprise as the world began to spin. I closed my eyes and welcomed the quiet darkness.

I awoke to the cheerful chirping of birds, as I opened my eyes; I realized I could see sunlight spilling in through a window. The blankets were whipped off me as I leapt from the bed and looked out the window.

_This is Sadngem town, how in the world did I get here?_

Professor Rowan appeared in the doorway.

"What happened?" I asked and he seemed glad that I seemed fine.

"You were found just outside your house in Twinleaf. I was there visiting your parents. They did not seem to care that you looked half dead, so I brought you here."

_Typical, though I wish for once they would be worried_.

We sat and I told the professor what had happened near Florama and the base. I also described the tests conducted and Dawn's involvement in the matter. While I was explaining, I had the strangest sense of deja-vu.

_Why does that man, Cyrus, seem familiar?_

He looked shocked and disturbed at the same time. As I finished explaining, the doorbell rang. Professor Rowan opened the door with me standing nearby; it was my parents.

The hope that they were checking on me was dashed as the first thing they said was, "Where is Dawn?!"

I kept my mouth shut, knowing that they would only listen to what they wanted to hear. The professor took that job instead, everyone sat around a table and the explication started.

"I refuse to believe that sham of a story!" Mother exclaimed.

"It is obvious that she is lying. She's probably just jealous of her perfect twin." Father added.

Mother looked at me pointedly. "You are setting out tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. You are bringing back our daughter in one piece. You good for nothing."

Father nodded his agreement. I stared back and nodded my head in affirmative.

The two then promptly left the house without any other words. The professor stared confusedly at me.

"If what you said is true; why are doing this?"

I gave a small smile, "I have something I desire and I believe this may grant my wish. So I have no choice in the matter."

I went back upstairs and began to pack; I needed to buy new materials. Professor Rowan graciously provided some funds. After getting all the required materials, I went to sleep: I needed all the strength I could get for the journey ahead.

As the sun was rising, I awoke and grabbed my bags. Rowan was at the door waiting. He had tried once again to give me a pokemon, but once again I refused. I was on a journey to find someone, not conquer gyms, though I could not refuse his gift of pokeballs.

"You may need them later."

I thanked him and for the second time, I set out for a journey only this time in hope that my wish would be granted.


	6. First Friend

I shielded my eyes from the sun's rays as I tried to read a sign. It marked the entrance of Eterna forest. It had only taken a few days for me to return to Florama; fortunately, those grunts were gone and the way was clear. I did not have to deal with trainers; I had no pokemon. Wild pokemon seemed to avoid me as well, though I was at a loss as to the reason.

As I entered the forest, the sunlight was replaced with dappled shade. The path was for the most part straight with a few twists and turns according to my map. After walking a short distance, I crossed paths with a young woman dressed in green.

"Hello, my name is Cheryl. If it is not too much trouble, could you travel with me through the forest?"

"I would not mind, but I have no pokemon. On another note, wild pokemon seem to be avoiding me." I replied bluntly.

The woman pondered the information and decided to accompany me anyway.

"If we get in a pinch, I will use my pokemon."

I shrugged my shoulders and we headed off into the forest. As I had said, almost no hostile wild pokemon appeared, and most of the trainers were looking for double battles, which we could not provide. Halfway through the forest I saw a pair of people kicking something. Looking closer, I realized that they were wearing the same uniforms as the people who had grabbed me and that the victim was an eevee. The small fox like pokemon was crying out in pain.

All the anger in me bubbled to the surface; I then realized I was growling at them. Just as I was about to run at the grunts, they abruptly stopped moving, their hands around their throats. After about a minute, they collapsed on the ground, twitching. I cautiously walked forward; the grunts were unconscious.

_How in the world did that happen?_

I did not have time to ponder, the eevee needed medical attention. I picked up the pokemon and brought some medicine and bandages. A short distance from the grunts, I sprayed the medicine and tended to the eevee's injuries.

It looked up weakly and somehow, I could clearly understand what it was saying.

_Who are you?_

"Do not worry. I am here to help." I whispered.

I held the injured pokemon in my arms and we hurried through the forest; the care I had given the eevee was only basic first aid, he needed to visit a pokemon center.

Fortunately it was a straight path from the forest to the city. I left the eevee at the pokemon centre and asked around for information. It seemed that Dawn had not visited Eterna city at all.

_Darn, no leads; I need to head to the next town_.

There was a problem however; the only road to the next city was a cycling path. In need of a bicycle, I walked over to the shop, only to find it empty. There was a note taped on the countertop.

**Gone to rescue pokemon**.

I was rather confused at the statement, so I asked around for clarification. I learned that an evil group called Team Galactic had been abducting people's pokemon and they were holed up in a building in town.

I returned to the pokemon center to check up on the eevee. The nurse told me that he was doing fine, he seemed happy to see me.

"Is that eevee yours?" The nurse asked and I told her about what had happened in the forest.

"He seems to like you a lot, why not let him become your partner?"

_I want to go with you_.

The eevee looked at me with puppy dog eyes and I gave in. I brought out one of the pokeballs the professor had given me and placed it in front of eevee. He touched the button and he disappeared into the ball which shook once and fell still. I tossed the ball and the pokemon reappeared.

"What is your name?"

_I do not have one._

"Then what do you want to be called?"

_Shadow_.

"Interesting choice. Well let us get along Shadow." I extended one hand, palm up and we high-fived. I had made my first friend and gotten my first pokemon.


End file.
